Intelligent conversation of the Literati

[Crawforde]

This thread was supposed to be
“Intelligent conversation of the literati”
Not “I love fat trunks, your thin trunk is stupid”
If you dislike the style so much, why follow this thread?

 

[Adair M]

Ever wonder what the origin of the word “Bunjin” is?

The Japanese bonsai Masters have left no stone un-turned categorizing every type of form a tree could be and have given each of them a name. They didn’t want to waste trees so that had to come up with a name for every shape. Most of the names are pretty forthright and straightforward. They didn’t invent the Broom form. They just called it as the saw it. They didn’t want to call it “Street Tree” even though that’s what it really is. Who would pay big money for a “Street Tree”? They are a very formal people and generally well-educated and wanted a single word because it’s easier to memorize a single word than a bunch of words, so Broom works on several levels. Cascade is another example of one word pretty well covering the form of a tree that looks like it’s falling out of a pot. Obviously, a Cascade Pot is a pot that is tall enough for a tree to fall out of and not hit the ground. There are lots of trees that are tilted at a funny angle that could never be forced to be a “Formal Upright” and they didn’t want to throw them away so they had to come up with name. “Slanted” covers that pretty well. A Slanted tree is one that looks stupid if planted correctly. But you don’t have to toss a Slanted tree, you sell it to people who are screwed up or have no taste because it is a formal style of a bonsai tree! What can you call a tree that doesn’t look healthy, or pretty, or like a tree that someone would buy? Remember, bonsai is business in Japan and if you throw away every tree that looks like crap you could lose your butt. If they could come up with a proper name for a crappy tree, there would always be someone stupid enough to buy it. Crappy is the proper descriptive word, but from a marketing standpoint, it just doesn’t work. They fished around for a long time, brainstorming on weekends, month after month and nobody could come up with an honest word that had marketability. Eventually, a guy suggested they use an acronym. You can get away with murder with an acronym: only the sound of the pretend word had to be marketable. The more complex the actual combination of words, the better. People could memorize “Crappy” pretty easily and they needed to use so many honest words that nobody would be able to remember what the acronym words actually were. Bunjin is the little moneymaker Japanese acronym. B.U.N.J.I.N really stands for Basically Unusable Nut Job Ignominious Nothing Burger.

The rest is history.

Total horse manure.

Do you just make stuff up?

 

[leatherback]

Total horse manure.

Do you just make stuff up?

I thought it was made up as a joke. For sure it was not meant seriously!?

 

[Forsoothe!]

It's a joke. I'm sorry I offended your sensibilities. Actually, maybe I'm not sorry at all. It is intended to be pretty outrageous and anyone who would take it seriously needs to be told, get a life.

 

[Mara of dragon clan]

This seems like a great thread. Just finished page 1 but need to retire for the night.

Please for any willing, bear me your thoughts on my attempt so that i may learn.

The jade is just in the back before I arranged the bench.

The buxus is in a training pot right now.

 

[clem]

Ever wonder what the origin of the word “Bunjin” is?

[...]
B.U.N.J.I.N really stands for Basically Unusable Nut Job Ignominious Nothing Burger.
The rest is history.

Like for every style, you can find every type of trees, from "poor" to "great".. this bunjin is just fantastic to me ->

 

[JoeR]

Like for every style, you can find every type of trees, from "poor" to "great".. this bunjin is just fantastic to me ->

View attachment 316449

Agreed, who's the artist?

 

[leatherback]

Agreed, who's the artist?

Me, me.. pick me!

ok, not me

 

[clem]

Agreed, who's the artist?

i don't know who owns or styled this tree, but it is a famous japanese literati.. you can see it in its new pot @ 2'45'' in this video (TaikenTen2019) ->

 

[Forsoothe!]

Like for every style, you can find every type of trees, from "poor" to "great".. this bunjin is just fantastic to me ->

View attachment 316449

This is exactly what the Japanese intended bujin to be: a tree which would otherwise be worthless for bonsai because it is too tall, too straight, has no taper, and no future without chopping low and creating an entirely new profile. Instead, it has been nurtured into a really great design which is striking. This is the kind of tree that you see from across a room full of trees, and walk past all the others to get a closer look. The apparently new iteration is much better than the prior.

 

[jaco94]

Maybe , unconsciously these trees can fascinate us , because their simple and slender shape symbolize much more than the others the link between earth and heaven .

 

[leatherback]

a tree which would otherwise be worthless for bonsai because it is too tall, too straight, has no taper, and no future without chopping low and creating an entirely new profile.

I think this is too negative. They could also have been out on a walk.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Maybe , unconsciously these trees can fascinate us , because their simple and slender shape symbolize much more than the others the link between earth and heaven .

 

[Adair M]

I think this is too negative. They could also have been out on a walk.

View attachment 316655

The trees in that picture look like a field of harvested lumber, about a year after the harvest. They leave a few trees standing to reseed the land.

not exactly “literati”.

 

[jaco94]

[QUOTE = "Forsoothe !, message: 765169, membre: 25985"]

[/CITATION]

Surely the best possible synthesis for this thread .

Looking at a beautiful bunjin makes our vision points to the sky and leaves us reflecting deeply and meditating on !

 

[Forsoothe!]

[QUOTE = "Forsoothe !, message: 765169, membre: 25985"]

[/CITATION]

Surely the best possible synthesis for this thread .

Looking at a beautiful bunjin makes our vision points to the sky and leaves us reflecting deeply and meditating on !

⛩Those of us who are shallower needs aids to meditation. ..."Trees? We don't need no stinkin' trees..." (Alfonso Bedoya, while collecting in the mountains of northern Mexico with friends, 1948)

 

[jaco94]

⛩Those of us who are shallower needs aids to meditation. ..."Trees? We don't need no stinkin' trees..." (Alfonso Bedoya, while collecting in the mountains of northern Mexico with friends, 1948)

I don't understand much of this message but maybe , it will help me meditate on this sentence :
" Fools are always so certains of themselves "

 

[Forsoothe!]

It's a prey on words. ..."Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges" is one of the most famous lines from a bit player in the history of movies. The Treasure of the Sierra Madres.

I'm just having a little fun with your seriousness and mystical interpretation of trees as being the bridge between the middle and upper kingdoms. Sorry, I ain't got no couth.

 

[jaco94]

Thank you for your explanation @Forsoothe

You are right , the beauty of some trees in nature may have developed a mystical side to me , but , as soon as i look at the bonsaï on my shelf, it quickly bring me down to earth !

 

[Forsoothe!]

Thank you for your explanation @Forsoothe

You are right , the beauty of some trees in nature may have developed a mystical side to me , but , as soon as i look at the bonsaï on my shelf, it quickly bring me down to earth !

The beauty of art is that we can all eventually learn enough about some segment we love to make art at some level. It does not have to be up to the standards of Naka or Michelangelo to be personally satisfying.